Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 198
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 198 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 198
READING PASSAGE – 2
Three stages for dealing with a complaint
‘How was it for you?’ has a maximum of three stages for dealing with a complaint.
Stage 1
Complaint will be dealt with by front line staff or manager of the service Once you have made your complaint you can expect a full response within 10 working days. If we aren’t able to deal with your complaint in full within this time we will contact you to advise you of the delay and to let you know when you can expect a full response.
IELTS General Reading Test
Stage 2
Complaint will be reviewed by an appropriate senior manager.
If you are not happy with the outcome from stage 1, contact the customer feedback co-ordinator. They will arrange a review of your complaint. This review and response will not be by the same person who dealt with your complaint at stage 1. Again you can expect a full response within 10 working days or we will contact you to advise you of the delay and to let you know when you can expect a full response.
Stage 3
Complaint will be reviewed by the Director or a member of staff independent of the service acting on the Director’s behalf. If you are not happy with the outcome from stage 2, contact the customer feedback co-ordinator. Our final review and response will be undertaken by the Director or a member of staff acting on the Director’s behalf. As for the previous stages you can expect a full response within 10 working days or we will contact you to advise of the delay and to let you know when you can expect a full response.
IELTS General Reading Test
If the stage 3 review doesn’t resolve your complaint and you want to take it further you will need to take it to the Local Government Ombudsman.
If after any stage you don’t get back to us within four weeks of our response to you we will consider that you have been satisfied with the response you have received.
As part of our ongoing improvement activities we will review each quarter by randomly selecting customers who have made a complaint and ask them how well they think we handled their complaint and whether they have any suggestions on how we could improve our complaints process.
IELTS General Reading Test
Where else can you get help?
You may wish to ask for help at any stage from friends or relatives, your local councillor or MP.
The Citizens’ Advice Bureau have staff who can help you make the complaint. Visit the Citizens’ Advice Bureau website for more information.
Getting your complaint assessed by an independent body
You can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman, an independent organisation which will investigate any sort of complaint about the council. But they will only do this after you’ve been through all of the stages of the council’s complaints procedure.
Please ring the Customer Centre if you are unsure who you should contact about your complaint.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 15 – 21
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?
TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this
15. The organisation deals with all complaints within 10 working days.
16. If you are not satisfied after Stage 1, you should contact a senior manager.
17. Stage 3 is the organisation’s final review stage.
18. The organisation assumes you are happy if you do not respond back at any stage within 4 weeks.
19. The organisation’s quarterly review is well-received by customers.
20. The quarterly review invites all customers to give their feedback.
21. You cannot avoid stages 1 -3 by requesting an independent assessment.
IELTS General Reading Test
Read the text and answer Questions 22 – 27.
Giving Presentations
The presentation is starting. Dim the lights. Time for a nap. These are the thoughts of many audiences subject to yet another boring business presentation. How can you awaken the cognitive powers of your audience? Start by learning the 8 secrets of a knockout business presentation.
A. Dig Deep
Having an effective business presentation that will have the audience on their feet requires more than the usual factoid dropped into your PowerPoint. Find a relevant fact beyond your topic norm. Give them the unexpected. The one obscure and contradictory piece of information that will raise heads and stimulate discussion. Where do you find such information? Go past the typical quick search engine scan. Check out educational websites for new research, interview industry mavericks, or scour the business press.
IELTS General Reading Test
B. Avoid Info Overload
PowerPoint expert Cliff Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points says, “When you overload your audience, you shut down the dialogue that’s an important part of decision-making.” He points to some important research by educational psychologists. “When you remove interesting but irrelevant words and pictures from a screen, you can increase the audience’s ability to remember the information by 189% and the ability to apply the information by 109%,” recommends Atkinson.
C. Practice Deliver
A knockout business presentation is so captivating it makes you forget about the speaker and become absorbed in the talk. Practice your delivery over and over until you remove the distractions including nervous tics and uncomfortable pauses. Pay particular attention to your body language. Is it non-existent or overly excessive? Good presenters work the stage in a natural manner.
IELTS General Reading Test
D. Forget Comedy
Business presenters will flirt with the temptation to deliver the stand up humor of Chris Rock. Remember your audience didn’t come to laugh; this is a business presentation. Leave your jokes at home. It’s OK to throw in a few natural off the cuff laughs but don’t overdo it.
E. Pick Powerful Props
You don’t need a box full of props like the watermelon-smashing comic, Gallagher. A few simple props to demonstrate a point can be memorable in the minds of your target audience. Management guru, Tom Peters, uses a cooking timer to show how quickly factory expansion is occurring in China.
F. Minimize You
“Frankly, your audience doesn’t care as much about your company history, as they do about whether you can help them solve the specific problems they face. Write a script for your presentation that makes the audience the protagonist, or the main character, who faces a problem that you will help them to solve,” says Atkinson.
IELTS General Reading Test
G. Speak the Language
A knockout business presentation doesn’t leave people wondering what you said. It might be tempting to throw in a few big words but are you alienating your audience? Always explain terms and acronyms. The number of smart executives who aren’t up on the latest terminology would surprise you.
H. Simple Slides
Beware of the PowerPoint presentation. Many corporate brains will turn off at the sight of yet another PowerPoint presentation. Over 400 million desktops currently have the PowerPoint application. If you want your business to stand out, don’t be like everyone else. Use slides in your knockout presentation to highlight and emphasize key points. Don’t rely on your slide projector to run the show.
It all comes down to what your audience walks away with in the end. Did you deliver another boring business presentation? Or did you persuade or motivate everyone to action? Apply the eight secrets to a knockout presentation and watch your ratings soar.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 22 – 27
The text has eight sections, A – H.
Which section contains the following information?
22. avoiding distancing your listeners
23. consider using realia to make a point
24. a mention of 8 secrets to success
25. helping your audience to use what you are giving them
26. the need for rehearsal
27. a problem-solution approach
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS ARE BELOW
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
15. FALSE
16. FALSE
17. TRUE
18. TRUE
19. NOT GIVEN
20. FALSE
21. TRUE
22. G
23. E
24. H
25. B
26. C
27. F